Sunday, January 22, 2012

The Kings Cake!

One of my most favorite things about living in different places around the world is taking on different cultural traditions, like the King's Cake! Early January marks the time when where the wise men went to visit Jesus and took their gifts to him. So, we have the "Kings Cake" (Galette des Rois)!!
At EVERY bakery and store in France, they have rows of these specific cakes and on them have little paper crowns. A friend brought us one and it had 2 crowns, and so this means there are 2 surprises inside!
So, my teacher taught us... how the French "do" the Kings Cake. The youngest child in the room gets under the table that the cake is being served on. (Under the table so not to see which piece is being cut). The mother (or whoever) cuts the first piece and asks who each piece goes to. (First piece goes to dad, second to sister.... etc. or whoever the child chooses.) In each cake there is 1 (or more) little pieces (token like figures). Whoever has the token in his piece gets to wear the hat and is "KING!" Our kids loved it... (granted, they just wore the hats), but as they grow, we'll have to do the normal tradition!

This is (part) of our cake... but it was basically this in a circle!
This is one of the little tokens in our cake! (Plastic wise man)

Monday, January 2, 2012

Top 10 Favorite Pics of 2011

So I started going through pictures the other day and looking at all that 2011 held for our family. So many changes, unexpected happenings, life turns... and it's fun to catch it on the camera. I wish I could post a Top 100 photos...
Most of these pics would not qualify as a "great picture", but for me... it's what's behind the picture. What was going on, and the treasured memory it holds. Not in any particular order... here are my top 10 favorite pics of 2011...

Stephen telling Sadie Mac about the cross (Albertville, France)
Noah starting to eat solid food... and making a mess (Boone, NC)
Fun family times at a 3D film (Atlanta, GA)
Planting a garden with my mom ("Our Yellow House", NC)
The Cascade Waterfalls with Grandma and Poppie (The Blue Ridge Pkwy)
Noah, catching some shade (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
My two treasures (my heart will always smile at this pic)... (Boone, NC)
Daddy and his princess at her 3rd birthday party... (Valle Crusis, NC)
An amazing sunrise (near Albertville, France)
God's amazing creation (France)